


exploding international

by likecharity



Category: Heroes RPF
Genre: Adultery, Infidelity, M/M, Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-05-27
Updated: 2008-05-27
Packaged: 2018-01-26 12:27:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1688333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likecharity/pseuds/likecharity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>He isn't </i>jealous<i>, he tells himself. That would be ridiculous.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	exploding international

**Author's Note:**

> Title from The New Pornographers - All For Swinging You Around. Just some fluff for [eryslash](http://eryslash.livejournal.com). :)

It starts in Munich, with chocolates.

Adrian has been in his hotel room for all of about five minutes before Milo knocks on his door. He is half-dressed and extremely tired and in the middle of brushing his teeth, but he opens the door anyway, and Milo practically bounds into the room.

"Chocolates," he says.

"What?" says Adrian through a mouthful of toothpaste.

Milo holds up something square and wrapped in silver foil. " _Chocolates_ ," he says again.

Adrian looks at him. He goes into the bathroom, spits into the sink, rinses out his mouth and then turns back to Milo. " _What?_ "

"There are actual chocolates on our pillows," Milo explains, coming further into Adrian's room and pointing at the bed. Adrian sees that there are, in fact, a few of these little silver squares on his pillows.

"That's a very typical hotel thing, Milo," Adrian says patiently.

"Have you ever had chocolates put on your pillow before?" Milo asks.

Adrian has to admit that he hasn't.

"It's amazing," says Milo happily. "I didn't think these things actually happened."

"It doesn't take much, does it, Mi?" says Adrian tiredly, guiding Milo back towards the door.

Milo is too involved in unwrapping the chocolate in his hand to listen. It's only when the chocolate is in his mouth that he notices he's standing in the hotel corridor.

"Are you shutting me out of your hotel room?" he asks with his mouth full.

"Yes," says Adrian, and shuts the door.

* * *

  
Adrian comes back from the bathroom in the restaurant to find that their food has arrived, and Milo, Hayden, and Jack, are all taking a little bit too much interest in his meal.

"You're not stealing my food, I hope," he says, grinning cheerfully at them.

"I wouldn't eat that if you paid me," Milo assures him. "What _is_ it?"

Adrian looks down at his plate, and wrinkles his nose. "Oh," he says, dejectedly. "I don't know. I just went for the thing that sounded the most German."

"We're in Germany," says Milo, "everything on the menu sounded German."

"I was being adventurous," Adrian informs him.

Milo reaches forwards with his own fork and prods whatever the hell it is that is on Adrian's plate.

"Don't do that!" hisses Hayden, giggling. "You might wake it up."

"No, but seriously," says Milo, tilting his head and peering at it. "What is it?"

Hayden leans closer to it. "Something...brown," she says lamely, and frowns. "That's as far as I can get."

"It's definitely meat of some kind," Jack offers, putting down his glass of wine and joining in the investigation. "And I think _those_ ," -- he points to a dark green lump next to the brown thing -- "are vegetables."

Milo makes a face. "I'm not so sure." He prods it again.

"Do you mind?" says Adrian, batting his hand away. He bravely puts his napkin into his lap and pulls his chair closer to the table.

"You're not going to actually eat it?" Hayden asks in a hushed voice. She sounds vaguely horrified.

"Of course I am," Adrian says, picking up his knife and fork and trying to sound positive, but he's pretty sure they've all noticed the grimace on his face. "I'm sure it's delicious."

"I think it's one of those parts of the animal that you're not supposed to eat," Jack says, looking up from his own meal. "It'll be...duck bladder, or something."

Milo looks ill.

"I don't think my middle-school German can help you, there," says Hayden apologetically. "I don't know the word for bladder."

Adrian is feeling less and less enthusiastic by the minute, but he takes a deep breath and stabs into the brown thing with his fork. The others are all watching him intently. He manages to cut a piece and get it halfway to his mouth, and then Milo speaks.

"It can't be good for you," he says doubtfully.

"Sure it is," Adrian says. He waves his fork in the general direction of the soggy green things on the side of his plate. "See? Vegetables."

He punctuates this sentence by putting his fork into his mouth, and chewing, and Milo watches him with a sort of sick fascination.

"What does it taste like?" he asks.

Adrian swallows. It's not all that bad, actually.

"Bladder," he says with a grin, and cuts himself another piece.

"Are you okay?" Hayden asks Milo worriedly, noting that he has gone slightly pale. "Just pretend it's a veggie burger or something."

She rubs his shoulder soothingly, and Adrian stabs his fork back into his meat, slicing it viciously with his knife.

* * *

  
"You've gotta be kidding me," says Milo, crossing his arms. He is practically sulking. "I am _not_ wearing those."

"We've got to," says Adrian, holding out the Lederhosen. "They've given them to us, it would be disrespectful not to--"

Milo interrupts him with a groan, eyeing the Lederhosen disdainfully. "I'm wearing _Ralph Lauren_ ," he says, "and you want me to wear _those?_ "

"Yes," says Adrian patiently. "C'mon. You've got to do this. Do it for me."

Milo sighs, slumping back against the wall. "Why'd you have to say that? Now I _have_ to do it," he says, taking the Lederhosen and glaring at Adrian.

Adrian just smiles triumphantly, and the two of them follow Jack into the bathroom.

"You look strangely handsome," Adrian tells Milo in an undertone, later, as they're coming back out, ready to face everybody else.

"I'm glad you find my suffering so attractive," says Milo drily, fiddling with the collar of his checked shirt and making a face.

"No, _really_ ," says Adrian urgently, but Milo doesn't seem to be listening, and when Adrian follows his gaze, he knows why.

Hayden has just emerged from the ladies', and she's wearing a tight little pink and blue milkmaid's outfit.

Adrian curses under his breath.

They pose for pictures.

* * *

  
They did talk about it before. Once.

It was probably about half way through filming, when the sexual tension between the two of them had gotten too much to bear.

Adrian always thought it was just a given that it would keep building up until one of them actually _did_ something, but it wasn't like that. That's how it would be in a book or a movie, he supposed, but not in real life.

They had a conversation one day, in Adrian's trailer.

"You're not the type to cheat," Milo had said, sipping a soda and acting like this topic of discussion was no big deal.

Adrian was confused, caught off guard. "What?"

"On your wife," Milo clarified. "That's the first thing."

"There are others?" Adrian'd asked, even though he knew there were others, _of course_ there were others.

"Sure," said Milo.

"The friend thing," Adrian said immediately.

"And the co-star thing," Milo added.

There was a pause.

"I'm not saying I don't want to," Milo had explained, "because _believe_ me, I want to..."

"...but it's not a good idea," Adrian had finished for him. "Sure. Of course."

And he meant it. He agreed. The reasons made perfect sense.

At the time.

* * *

  
Milo is gripping Adrian's hand so tightly that Adrian thinks he's going to lose the circulation, but for God knows what reason, he isn't doing a single thing about it. Instead, he is just grinning, holding Milo's hand tightly back, and looking straight at the cameras.

"I love the Eiffel Tower," says Hayden after the photoshoot is over, sipping from a bottle of water. "It's so romantic. And _Paris._ The city of love."

Milo laughs at her and gently places his hand on her back, looking at her like he thinks she's adorable and maybe a little something more.

Adrian puts his sunglasses back on.

He frowns.

* * *

  
"I think you're buying too many shoes," says Adrian, as Hayden dons a pair of black heels and walks slightly clumsily across the shop floor.

"I think you're getting on too many of my nerves," Hayden retorts, somewhat nonsensically, and then twirls back towards him and Milo, pointing her toes at them.

"I think you look great," says Milo, his eyes scanning her smooth slim calves down to the shoes. "Definitely wear those tonight."

"You," says Hayden happily, trying to admire her reflection in a mirror, "are like a stylist."

"Ah, yes," says Adrian. "Milo Ventimiglia, Heroes's resident fashionista."

Milo shoots him a look. "You still want me to help you pick out a suit, right?" he asks, and Adrian sort of wants to hit him.

"I can do it myself," he says, and even Hayden laughs at this.

"No, you can't," chuckles Milo, shaking his head.

It's true, he really can't.

Later, back at the hotel, Milo is skimming through shirts in Adrian's closet and _hmm_ ing to himself.

"Milo," says Adrian, sitting on the bed and watching him.

"Mm?"

"Is there anything you want to tell me?" Adrian asks.

"That you really need to buy some better ties?" Milo offers, holding up a personal favourite of Adrian's and looking fairly disgusted.

Adrian laughs in spite of himself. "No," he says. "I meant about...you and Hayden?"

Milo stiffens, and turns back around to the closet, busying himself with the clothes. "What d'you mean?" he asks.

Adrian's sure he knows exactly what he means, so he says so. "You know what I mean."

"She's a sweet girl," says Milo simply.

"This isn't an interview, Mi," Adrian says softly. "You can tell me, you know."

"There's nothing to tell," Milo shrugs. He turns around, laying out pants, a shirt and a jacket on the bed, resolutely not looking Adrian in the eye.

"And wear the brown tie," he calls back behind him as he leaves the room. "It looks good on you."

* * *

  
Adrian sees Hayden and Milo kissing in London.

It shouldn't really be a surprise, but somehow it is. He thinks it's because even though he's been aware of this _something_ between them for quite a while now, he's never really given it a lot of thought. He never imagined that something might actually come from it, or what it would be like if it did.

Even so, the stab of shock he feels in his chest is a little disconcerting.

He isn't _jealous_ , he tells himself.

That would be ridiculous.

* * *

  
Adrian kisses Milo the following day.

They're running more than five minutes late for their interviews already, and he's not even ready yet, but he goes into Milo's hotel room anyway.

He practically throws him up against the wall, kissing him hard, knowing it has to happen this way or he'll lose his nerve. And Milo only hesitates for a second or two, and then he's wrapping his arms around Adrian, kissing him back.

But then --

"You said we shouldn't do this," Milo says when they part, running his fingers across his lips.

"I had a change of heart," Adrian tells him.

"It took you a while," Milo says, raising his eyebrows. "It's been _months._ "

"Have you changed your mind too?" Adrian asks, his voice low.

"This is a huge cliché," Milo says, "but there's still the issue of it ruining our friendship."

"I think," says Adrian, "that we have engaged in a life-long friendship that nothing could tear asunder."

Milo rolls his eyes exaggeratedly. " _Tear asunder?_ " he echoes, shaking his head. "Jesus, Adrian, I'm gonna have to quote you here and say this isn't an interview."

"But that's what I think!" says Adrian. "I was just being honest."

Milo only rolls his eyes again, but he steps a little closer, fingering the collar of Adrian's shirt and neatening his tie.

"When are we supposed to leave?" he asks.

"At least ten minutes ago."

"Oh, that's okay," says Milo, leaning in closer, "I think we'll make it."

Milo kisses him, slowly, like they have all the time in the world.

* * *

  
"These aren't actually going on the internet," says Milo, flicking through videos on Adrian's camera as they sit, bored, on the plane, "are they?"

"Of course they are," Adrian says.

"Oh."

A pause.

"Really? Even this one?" Milo holds out the camera, which is playing a short video of himself settling down for a nap. It was taken about an hour ago.

"Sure."

Milo looks at him, his brow furrowed. "This should make me nervous."

"Why?" asks Adrian, grinning.

"The fact that you take videos of me all the time and plan to put them on the internet?" Milo says incredulously. "You'd be nervous if I was doing that to you."

Adrian lowers his voice; leans in a little. "Only because I know what kind of things you'd record me doing."

Both of them glance over at Hayden, but she's oblivious, humming along to the music on her iPod, her eyes closed.

"Hey, slow down," Milo murmurs. "There's been nothing to record, so far."

Adrian has the feeling that once they get back home, that's going to change pretty quickly.

* * *

  
"Um," says Milo, at the last minute. "Before we do this..."

It is several weeks later, and they are both naked, and in Milo's bed, and Adrian is more than a little perturbed, because no one wants to be seconds away from sex and then hear the words _'before we do this'._

"I think I should tell you something," says Milo, and Adrian relaxes a little, because all of a sudden he thinks he knows what's coming.

"Hmm?" he says.

"I'm sleeping with Hayden," Milo says, biting his lip as he looks at Adrian, waiting for his reaction. "I thought I should, you know, tell you."

Adrian gently places a hand on Milo's shoulder. "I think there's something I should tell you, too, then," he says. He takes a deep breath. "I'm married."

He can't keep a straight face for long, especially when Milo begins beating him with a pillow, and he apologises between gasps and laughs.

"I knew!" he says, by way of explanation. "Of course I knew."

"Of course you did," says Milo, rolling his eyes.

"Are we done with the dramatic confessions?" Adrian asks.

"Wait," says Milo. He seems to consider this. "Hmm. I think so."

Adrian smiles; leans in to kiss him.

"At least for now, anyway," says Milo with a wicked grin.

When Adrian kisses him again, it's mostly just to shut him up.

* * *

  
Adrian wanders sleepily into Milo's kitchen in his underwear the next morning, and finds him making pancakes.

"You're making me pancakes?" Adrian asks, surprised, as he pads across the kitchen. Milo's at the stove, of course, and there are open packets and cartons all over the counters.

"Yeah," says Milo. "Morning."

"Morning," says Adrian, looking interestedly at the pancakes. "Wow. I may have to divorce Nat and marry you instead."

Milo freezes, a pancake on his spatula, halfway to a plate. He turns around and raises his eyebrows at Adrian. "I can't believe you just said that."

"It was ridiculous," Adrian agrees, picking the pancake up off the spatula and taking a bite. "Let's pretend it didn't happen." He swallows. "These are good."

"Everything tastes good when you've eaten duck bladder," Milo teases. "Ugh, or whatever that was. You're lucky I'm willing to have my lips anywhere _near_ yours considering the stuff you eat."

Adrian takes his time with a comeback, yawning and running a hand through his hair.

"You know," he says eventually, watching Milo flipping another pancake, "I'm disappointed."

Milo frowns, but doesn't look away from his cooking. "You are?"

"Yeah," says Adrian. "I expected chocolates on my pillow when I woke up."

Milo thumps him, of course.

But it's worth it.  



End file.
